page_title: Xerxes I inscription at Van
section_title: Text
hierarchical_section_title: Xerxes I inscription at Van / Text
caption_attribution_description: English: Van citadel, inscription XV of Xerxes I
context_page_description: The Xerxes I inscription at Van, also known as the XV inscription, is a trilingual cuneiform inscription of the Achaemenid King Xerxes I. It is located on the southern slope of a mountain adjacent to the Van Fortress, near Lake Van in present-day Turkey. When inscribed it was located in the Achaemenid province of Armenia. The inscription is inscribed on a smoothed section of the rock face near the fortress, approximately 20 metres above the ground. The niche was originally carved out by Xerxes' father, King Darius, but he left the surface blank.
context_section_description: The inscription consists of 27 lines of writing in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. The inscription reads the same in each language. A translation into English reads:
  "A great god is Ahuramazda, the greatest of the gods, who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, created happiness for man, who made Xerxes king, one king of many, one lord of many.
  
  I (am) Xerxes, the great king, king of kings, king of all kinds of people, king on this earth far and wide, the son of Darius the king, the Achaemenid.
  
  Xerxes the great king proclaims: King Darius, my father, by the favor of Ahuramazda, made much that is good, and this niche he ordered to be cut; as he did not have an inscription written, then I ordered that this inscription be written.
  
  Me may Ahuramazda protect, together with the gods, and my kingdom and what I have done."
caption: The inscription, located high up on the cliff.
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